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On the closing day of Milano Rocks 2018, after two nights of (what I read were) great performances from The National and Imagine Dragons, it was the turn of US rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars to entertain the scores of music lovers in attendance.

Before they took to the stage however, it was first up to electronica duo Sonars to warm the crowd up. They tried their best, but with all of their tracks sounding ridiculously the same, it didn’t take them long to lose the attention and interest of the thousands upon thousands present, the majority of whom occupied themselves instead by soaking up the scorching Italian sunshine, having a few drinks, or doing both.

Mike Shinoda, whose support slot announcement had gone down a storm with fans particularly on Twitter, was a hit from the moment he stepped on stage, opening his set with the Fort Minor song “Remember The Name” before following it up with “When They Come For Me” and “Roads Untraveled.” It wasn’t until the fourth song in his set that he introduced his own tracks, and he chose a great one to start off with: “Ghosts,” which had the fans before him singing along to every word.

Taking the time to look out over the mass of people that stretched back as far as he could see, Mike spoke about how he liked to meet fans before shows and about one guy in particular who had asked if he could play guitar on one song. Moments later, he called that guy on stage and sure enough, picking up the instrument, the young man did a great job of playing along with Mike and his band, receiving a huge round of applause for his efforts.

A few songs later, Mike took a few minutes to express his appreciation and gratitude to everyone who had supported himself and the band over years, and especially during the past year or so. Addressing the difficult time he and the band had gone through since Chester’s death, he thanked everyone who had come together to be there for them, and for one another. “You came out on social media, you came out in person…you honoured the band, and more importantly, you honoured Chester.” What followed was a highlight of his set as he asked if the crowd would sing Chester’s parts, and began singing “In The End” – the sound of 60,000+ people singing in powerful and heartfelt unison was enough to raise goosebumps on arms everywhere.

The rest of Mike’s set was just as good as he delivered a little something for everyone – the likes of “Numb” and “Papercut” thrilled the LP fans, while those more into his solo material were ‘rewarded’ with “About You” and “Make It Up As I Go”. As he closed out his time on stage with “Running From My Shadow”, the cheers and applause that he received echoed long after he’d disappeared from view.

After a wait of around half an hour and with the sun having set some time ago, the lights on stage went down once more and the powerful intro that is “Monolith” saw the crowd once again come alive roaring their approval and excitement at what was to come. “Up In The Air” kicked in and the venue became a mass of jumping bodies, before “Kings & Queens” saw the first – but not the last – massive sing-along of their set.

“From Yesterday” has long-since been a fan favourite and so, when the opening notes began playing, the response was instantaneous, with a huge cheer echoing around the massive space, and at Jared’s instruction, the crowd duly sang along, then took over for a part. Fan interaction has been a big part of the Monolith Tour and tonight’s show proved to be no different with Jared calling up a number of people from the pit area to join him and Shannon on stage. Within a couple of minutes, he had several new ‘friends’ gathered around him, including a couple of guys in shark and unicorn onesies and he had the group, as he got each side of the crowd to sing the “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!” that would eventually lead into “Do Or Die”, decide whether the left or the right were loudest. As the left had often been victorious at recent shows, it was a refreshing change of sorts to see the right side (AKA mine) to come out on top, and the performance itself saw Jared pick up and proudly wave an Italian flag as he moved from one end of the stage to the other.

“Hail To The Victor” soon had the place jumping again, before “Rescue Me” saw Jared call up a few more people as he asked for “the worst dancers I’ve ever seen in my entire life”, but what he actually got was a young boy who put his own flossing skills to shame. Next, Jared requested that everyone to take out their phones and hold them up, as “City Of Angels” turned the arena into a stunning sea of lights.

Ever since the Echelon had first discovered that “Remedy” was in fact sung by Shannon and since he first performed it at a US date on the tour, European fans everywhere had and have been hoping they’d see and hear it at theirs. Tonight they did, and, with Jared off stage, the elder Leto got his chance to shine, and duly took it, delivering a fantastic performance that included a long and high note in the middle that I for one had never heard him do before which duly impressed everyone present and saw him receive a huge and lengthy cheer and round of applause.

As the set began to draw to a close, and with Shannon back at his kit, Jared walked back on stage having changed his pants into a pair that were slightly looser, and the pair, after a slight technical issue which saw them re-start the song, launched into “The Kill.” Given the fact that the song is largely responsible for a lot of their success, it wasn’t at all surprising to see and hear the thousands present sing along at the top of their voices to every word and harmonise surprisingly well during the “oh-oh-oh-oh” parts. What many people perhaps didn’t expect however was Jared leaving the stage and making his way to the barrier, standing and leaning over the crowd as he sang the closing chorus.

Once back on stage, he asked the all too familiar question: “Anyone want to come on stage with 30 Seconds To Mars?” Said stage was soon filled – as usual – with VIP’ers and scores of lucky people picked by Jared from down the front area including one guy who, perched on someone’s shoulders, was spotted with a moustache and wearing a bra; not exactly something you see every day. With easily close to 80, if not more, people now standing behind him, and around Shannon, “Closer To The Edge” saw the venue once again come together to sing the “No! No No! No!” parts, with thousands upon thousands of people losing themselves in the music, and the moment. The performance rounded off a set that had entertained the crowds from the start and hopefully meant that the band wouldn’t be gone too long before coming back to Italy.

Following on from the release of her self-love anthem “Flawless” towards the end of last year, Sophie Ann is continuing to speak out, write and sing about mental health issues – issues that affect millions not just here in the UK, but around the world – in an open and honest way in an effort to remind those who hear her music that they are not and never alone in what they are going through.

Her latest track “Read My Mind” is an upbeat, pop-funk banger that looks at the anxiety that often goes with and can come with getting in your own head. In her own words, Sophie says:

“Read My Mind is about when you have a crush on someone and create their personality and your entire future relationship in your head, and when you daydream about someone you don’t even know. I was in this headspace before I went into the writing session where we wrote Read My Mind, and I thought it was such a funny concept. It’s something that’s embarrassing to admit, but we all do it.”

Check out “Read My Mind” below and to keep up to date with Sophie Ann, give her page a like on Facebook or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

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As a hectic 2018 draws to a close, and having recently shared the lyric video for latest single “Brave Face”, which you can check out below, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Frank Turner is already looking forward to 2019.

Following the release of his seventh studio album Be More Kind, and a world tour which saw him play to more than 200,000 people in the UK, US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Frank will kick off the new year with a seven date UK arena tour which begins on January 22nd in Birmingham and ends with a show at London’s Alexandra Palace on February 3rd.

Support for the dates in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Bournemouth, Cardiff and London comes from Jimmy Eat World and Grace Petrie, while Big Burns Supper and Spiegeltent Dumfries will open for him in Dumfries.

Tickets for the tour are available now and you can keep up to date with Frank by following him on Twitter.